Pennsylvania State University University Park and Commonwealth Campuses, State College, Penn. As part of a system-wide upgrade, Penn State transitioned to a single security management system to centralize management of the college's video surveillance and access control functions, including the installation of wireless locks. CASE SUMMARY Location: State College, Penn. System Installed: Software House C CURE 9000 STANLEY Wi-Q wireless locks American Dynamics victor video management system Software House istar door controllers llustra Pro mini-dome IP cameras VideoEdge NVRs
Introduction The Pennsylvania State University, better known as Penn State, is a public research university with a network of 24 campuses, including nine with on-campus residence halls, located throughout the state. As part of a systemwide upgrade, the eight residential campuses under the domain of Commonwealth Campus Housing and Food Services, began the move to a single security and event management platform to support their video and access control systems, including a new system of wireless locks and upgraded IP cameras, for the residence halls and some outside group facilities such as child-care and student centers. seven-hour s drive apart from the farthest campuses. Therefore, having a hands-on approach by a single person or integration office wasn t possible. All three offices of Siemens in Pennsylvania Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh aided in managing the year-long project for the Commonwealth Campus Housing and Food Services. Challenges Penn State, with its myriad campuses across Pennsylvania, was operating on multiple and disparate platforms for its academic and physical security systems. Further, they wished to use Tyco Security Products Software House C CURE 9000 software as the standard security management platform integrated among the University and its campuses. The university's C CURE 9000 security management system made possible the conversion of more than a dozen residence halls to STANLEY Wi-Q wireless locks, improving programming and monitoring while also providing easier operational use. The Solution With a decision made to standardize on C CURE 9000 for the access control system, the university also decided to simultaneously upgrade its wireless locking system. That project presented the new challenge of converting hundreds of locks without compromising access to doors or presenting unnecessary security issues during the conversion process. As a long-time user of STANLEY locking products, and with STANLEY Wi-Q wireless locks now integrated with the C CURE 9000 platform, the university system began the process of converting more than 720 locks in a dozen residence halls. This project would affect the housing for more than 1,200 students at five campuses. In fact, logistics proved to be one of the greatest challenges as the campuses involved spread from one end of the state to the other more than a The switch to wireless locks improved the ability for programming and monitoring while also providing easier operational use. The wireless locks, which are mounted
on the residence room doors, communicate with a STANLEY Wi-Q portal gateway there are about 90 within the system which in turn communicate with the C CURE 9000 software. The student population had a tendency to lose the keys that they needed to open doors, so a wireless solution would make it easier for the appropriate students to gain access, said Tracy Walker, Assistant Director of Commonwealth Housing, Food Services and Residential Life. The same card that accesses the wireless room locks used for hard-wired doors throughout the campuses, as well as card readers for copiers, laundry machines, and cash registers. Siemens strategy of reconfiguring one door at a time, said William Werkiser, Senior Project Manager at Siemens. This part of the project also was planned for the summer months, when the residence halls were mostly unoccupied. Another critical component of the upgrade was the addition of nearly 900 primarily Illustra IP mini-dome cameras at the entrances and perimeter of the residence halls and other campus buildings that are linked to the American Dynamics victor video management system. The STANLEY Wi-Q wireless locks offered a tracking piece that regular keys wouldn t provide and, without having to rely on conventional locking systems, the campuses could cut down on the need for locksmiths and having to change out cores at the door. By integrating with C CURE 9000, Penn State security personnel could see audit data concerning when a door was offline through the system s journal feature, if information on door status was changed. Over 110 istar door controller panels monitor door data throughout the campuses, including at University Park, Penn State s largest campus. The actual user data from the STANLEY Wi-Q locks is considered private, but some of the information can be used in the aggregate or, in the case of an alleged criminal act, shared with police. Even though the system was live during the transition, converting the residence halls from hard wired to wireless locks went smoothly, thanks to University network administrators found the victor software intuitive to organize and manage the video information to align with the university's needs. The clear and crisp high-definition video from the Illustra Mini-Domes make them ideal for detecting mustsee details, such as numbers on license plates, faces and even blurred objects and capturing them at full frame rates, in conditions ranging from full sun to blackout conditions. Several facilities at Penn State s University Park campus were also migrated to the victor platform, with the assistance of systems integration firms Tyco Integrated Security, AccessSI, and Securitas.
Sean Costella, Assistant Director of Network and Support Operations at Penn State, found the victor client software easy to manage with an intuitive interface that required little to no training time for his team. The university has several business groups that need access to video, but not every group needs to see it all. Within victor s site manager feature, Costella can create boundaries so different groups have access only to the video pertinent to their needs. The victor/videoedge system makes it easy to organize the video information in a way that makes sense to the business, Costella said. For example, users know that these are my 30 cameras, but they don't need to know to which specific NVRs are providing the video. "With complete control of who can access video footage and when, we can be sure our video system is secure, Walker said. A new system-wide user group has formed to share details about how to get the most out of the shared system. During the conversion, they also tapped into the Penn State networking services group, which provisioned a second network that served as a host for all of the end-point devices. C CURE 9000 is also serving as the backbone for integration with other systems employed by Housing and Food Services and Residence Life, such as the university s eliving platform that is used for tracking housing contracts and room assignments. The information from eliving now goes directly into C CURE 9000. The same is true of an access management system for staff and non-student access to residence halls, such as vendor access. It now has integrations with C CURE 9000 to streamline and automate processes as well as enable stricter controls. The Customer Penn State University The victor / VideoEdge platform enables Housing and Food Services administrators to tightly control access to live video and recorded footage to prevent unauthorized use. One of the benefits of the new system is that it helps Penn State comply with a more restricted video access policy, said Walker. Only three Housing and Food Services management positions have access to all video from the 23 VideoEdge NVRs and just a few, mainly on the food services side, have access to live video for business purposes such as monitoring food lines. The Pennsylvania State University encompasses 24 campuses; 26,742 full-time faculty and staff serving nearly 100,000 students; a teaching hospital that provides care to more than 1 million patients annually; two law school locations; over $800 millon in research expenditures; more than 500,000 active alumni; an online World Campus that empowers anyone to pursue an education anytime, anywhere; and the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the world THON.
The Solutions Provider Tyco Security Products Tyco Security Products is now part of Johnson Controls, a global diversified technology and multi industrial leader serving a wide range of customers in more than 150 countries. With its world-leading premium access control, video, location-based tracking and intrusion solutions, Tyco Security Products employs over 2,800 employees globally, including research and development, marketing, manufacturing, sales, service and logistics teams in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Our products, built by developers from all product disciplines, consistently allow customers to see more, do more, and save more across multiple industries and segments including healthcare, government, transportation, finance, retail, commercial and residential. Worldwide, Tyco Security Products helps protect 42% of Fortune 500 companies, transportation systems on five continents, 37% of the world s top 100 retailers, over two million commercial enterprises, thousands of students in more than 900 educational facilities, and over five million private residences. Information in this case study is current as of January 2016, the publication date. No information may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of Tyco Security Products. 2016 Tyco Security Products. All Rights Reserved The trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed on this document are registered in the United States [or other countries]. Any misuse of the trademarks is strictly prohibited and Tyco will aggressively enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law, including pursuit of criminal prosecution wherever necessary. All trademarks not owned by Tyco are the property of their respective owners, and are used with permission or allowed under applicable laws. Product offerings and specifications are subject to change without notice. Actual products may vary from photos. Not all products include all features. Availability varies by region; contact your sales representative. www.tycosecurityproducts.com